Foreword- From the December 21st 2010 issue of Asahi Shimbun
Weekly AERA. Unlike many interviews with One Piece author Eiichiro Oda that
are presented verbatim, this was handled as an article describing One Piece
and exploring Odafs thoughts on approaching his job. Without conversation
there are times when the author presents statements or generalizations
about comics that may or may not have been stated by Oda. I have attempted
to leave any ambiguity untouched so as not to put words in the authorfs
mouth and in turn have attempted to indicate where Oda is being
paraphrased. My clarifications are in brackets and any parenthesis are from
the article itself. Translation and general notes have been marked with
asterisks. As always, please enjoy!

-Greg

One
Piece Author Interview

Vicky*
the Pirate,

The
Origin of an Adventure Comic

He
laughs and eats for his own fun. He rages and fights for his friends. When
the battle is over he laughs and eats some more. [A series] written
honestly about ecouragef, the author speaks with us about his mammoth**
comic.

*Although
several spellings exist, Vicky was used for the English adaptation.

**Literally
emonsterf.

DO~N!, the sound of two
million eight hundred fifty thousand copies. All of them the 56th
Volume of the comic eOne Piecef which hit stores on December 4th. A
new record for the highest initial (release) printing of a comic book.

Twelve years since its release
in 1997 on the pages of eWeekly Shonen JUMPf, having surpassed even the likes
of eDragon Ballf with total printings over 176 million, it stands beside eKochira
Katsushika-ku Kameari Kouen-mae Hasutsujof as the longest comic currently being
published in [Weekly] JUMP. gStory-wise Ifm about halfway.h, the author
Eiichiro Oda-san tells us.

eHighlighting
each member of the gangf

Itfs the tale of a flourishing
age of pirates set in a fantastic world. He wears a straw hat and ragged
shorts. Perhaps less a pirate than he is a eTom Sawyerf*, the young hero is
Luffy. Leader of the Straw Hat Gang, their sights on eThe One Great Hidden
Treasuref (One Piece) they lead adventures on the eThe Great Coursef (Grand
Line).

Moving through each volume the
ever-growing circle of friends is now at nine members. Not only Luffy, each one
of the gang has his or her own unique story or moment in the spotlight. The
story is bound to grow longer but the hearts of fans donft wander. If youfre
wondering why itfs because at any given time One Piece is on efiref. From
SMAPfs Takuya Kimura to [Olympic] gold medal swimmer Kousuke Kitajima and even
a former Morning Musume. Mari Yaguchic Without regard to gender, famous
individuals stating their fandom are plentiful. A enationally renowned comicf
that can be enjoyed by children and adults, thatfs One Piece. Someone who would
raise an objection to that is none other than the author Oda-san himself. He
says that One Piece is for boys. Since the serialization began hefs been
drawing with that in mind. gHaving so many different readers is beyond anything
I imagined.h

When readers grow up it means they
will turn to young adult comics or novels. And yet such a broad age group
reading One Piece must mean, gMen and women young and old carry the spirit of a
boy. I think it makes them feel nostalgic.h

But why pirates? gI wanted to
draw an adventure comic. And drawing adventure can only mean pirates. In my
mind the two are directly connected.h He says the pirate cartoon eVicky the
Vikingf was the start of his interest in pirates.

eLuffy
is a estrong-willed boy*f f

Pirates = evil; not exactly [a
leading role] suited for a [typical] boysf comic. Such a thought never entered
his [Odafs] head. As the, gcprime example of a boy**ch, Luffy blows away the
dark sides of a piratefs trade such as pillaging or violence with a *DO~N* (an
onomatopoeia used extensively in the series). Hefs simply self-indulgent with a
ravenous appetite and does what he wants when he wants. gThere are lots of
things children want to do but canft, I think they feel better when they see
Luffy.h (Oda-san)

*strong-willed-
In Japanese Oda describes him as enikushokukei danshif literally translated ecarnivorous
type boyf which means eaggressive boyf, however the adjective eaggressivef
tends to have negative connotations in English so I chose estrong-willedf.

**Literally
echildf but given his tendency to infer to the male nature of the comic and
character, probably closer to eboyf.

He might be a boy but as the
leader of a pirate crew, Luffy stands up for his friends by facing off against
enemies when the odds are clearly stacked against him. Hefs said more than a few
times, gI canft do anything without my crew.h* gThat kind of masculine courage
is something strong-willed women and even men are attracted to. Luffy is
something you rarely see these days, a strong-willed boy.h (Oda-san)

*Ifm not
sure if hefs said this as many times as the author of the article implies.

For the One Piece movie
eStrong Worldf released this month, it was a first [for Oda-san] to be in
charge of the story. Going to rescue a crew member taken from them, the scene
where Luffy and gang enter the enemyfs palace used the film eJirocho of
Shimizuf* for the motif. gI wanted to bring that world of heroic chivalry into
modern day.h That courageous spirit is the key to stirring up childrenfs hearts.
In order to succeed in drawing [those kinds of images] he limits himself.

*Full
title: The Life and Times of Jirocho of Shimizu. The film includes a
performance by Torazo Hirosawa, a rokyoku performer whom Oda has mentioned
several times. Once in the authorfs comment corner or JUMP (12/24/2007) and in
his podcast interview with Toshio Suzuki of Studio Ghibli.

One of those limits, avoiding
a love story. Simply because they [boys] arenft interested in it. gThere are a
lot of female fans too and I get requests for romantic scenes but I wonft
respond to that call.h

eThis
is my last long-termf

Another [example of limiting
himself], he tries to avoid drawing scenes of death or killing. He also
refrains from depicting brutality. gEven if I draw a sword cutting someone, I
try not to draw scenes where the blade is in a gaping wound.h

Thatfs why he gave Luffy the
ability to stretch or contract his body at will (in exchange for that he canft
swim). The battle scenes where he uses his elasticity for special attacks to
fire a barrage of punches like eGomu Gomu Gatlingf or to repel enemy attacks by
blowing up his body, those are what Oda-san considers ideal compositions. gIf
you compare him to an action star hefs not Bruce Lee, hefs Jackie Chan. Whatever
cool reason there is for his clashing with an enemy, itfs much more interesting
if hefs [normally] a dimwit.h

After the battle is over
therefs sure to be a celebration with his crew or the local islanders. Itfs a
scene Oda-san wants [loves] to draw. gIf a close friend or enemy died I
probably couldnft draw a fun party scene.h His favorite crewmate is the timid
liar and sniper, Usopp. gHefs got the lovability of a klutz, but if I donft
think about how to use him [well] he drops in popularity really fast.h

[Oda-san] has had the ending
of the story drawn in his mind since the serialization began so [One Piece]
doesnft have the problems that plague many long-term series like unwinding or
growing muddled. Luffyfs grandfather, father and even his big brother have all
appeared onstage and the story is progressing towards the ending Oda-san has imagined.

He works on the story for
three days and draws for three days. There are no days off for him. He has
already decided not to draw any other long-term works beyond One Piece. gI
donft think itfs possible for me to make another long-term serialization, my
body couldnft physically handle it.h, thatfs why hefs pitching this one with
all of his strength. Itfs that strength that has captured the echildlike
spiritf in hearts all over Japan, no, hearts all over the world.

But even for Oda-san, therefs one
heart he just canft seem to capture. His daughterfs. gShe likes ePretty Curef
(a cartoon popular with elementary school girls) better than my comic.h